I am a traveler, a flower observer, and a birdwatcher. I log my travel experience in this blog. This blog is all about my traveling (+birds+flowers). After traveling few of the places from Bangladesh now I am exploring the Ireland. Along with Ireland I'll try to explore the other European countries which are near from here.

Our today's flower is an aquatic flower, but a weed flower. Locally known as Panikola Ful(পানিকোলা ফুল), Shamakola Ful(শ্যামাকোলা ফুল), etc. Common name is Duck Lettuce. Botanical name is Ottelia alismoides. It belongs to the plant family Hydrocharitaceae.

Panikola(পানিকোলা ফুল) is an annual, submersed aquatic plant that is profoundly available in our country Bangladesh. This plant is mainly seen around the paddy fields, specially during the rainy season. During this time the fields used to get under water, and you'll find lot of such flowers are randomly on the water. Flower are crappy, small, white in color and having a yellow touch at the center. This small flower has only three petals and these can be damaged by even a soft touch.

A buoyant flower having a long stalk.

This plant used to grow from the soil and the root is planted to the soil(not a floating aquatic flower). Leafs and the flowers are having a long stalk. Though the heart/ovate shaped leafs use to be under water most of the time, but the flower are projected above the water surface with the long stalk. Stalks are slippery/greasy(possibly as they use to be under water most of the times). It has a fruit(may be!) under the flower that our village kids use to collect and eat. This fruit is also having slippery stuffs inside.

The bulbous thing under the flower is being consumed by our frantic village kids.

Though its an aquatic plant, but its propagation is only performed using the seeds and its very slow to spread. That's why this plant is not that much invasive like other aquatic plants.

Photos of this article were taken from Brahmanbaria(ব্রাহ্মনবাড়িয়া) during the travel of October 2012. You can find more about this place from Poddo Beel of Ghagutia.